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9 



CONSIDERATIONS ON THE SLAVERY QUESTION, 



ADDRESSED TO THE 



fri^j^icfeiit 0f tlt^ llmfetl 3i^\n* 



(Dim 






/^ 



TO ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 

IP resident of tlje Unitcb 0tatc0. 



SiR — The undersigned liavintr some reason to believe that certain views 
which he had the honor to present to you, the Chief Magistrate of the coun- 
try, shortly after the first battle of Bull Run, touching the civil war then 
and still pending, and the measures which in his judgment were best 
adapted to bring it to a successful issue were received with kindness,* ven- 
tures to trespass again on your attention by recurring to one of ihe topics 
then adverted to, for the purpose of considering it in the light of develop- 
ments which have since occurred, and with a particular reference to the 
existing posture of our affairs. 

That topic is Slavery, as it exists ia the States now in insurrection against 
the government of the United States — an institution which has up to this 
time (as is believed,) proved an element of strength to the rebel cause. 
The undersigned will inquire whether a policy cannot now be inaugu- 
rated and pursued which will make that same institution not only a source 
of weakness to the insurrection, but an active agent for its overthrow. 



* The paper here referred to was laid before the President through the agency of 
an Hon. member of his Cabinet, late in July or early in August, IStil. Most of the 
topics adverttd to are now bygone, but the subjoined paragraph appertains to the 
subject discussed in these pages: 

" § 6. But what I deem of the first importance is an expedition into Texas, and 
perhaps two expeditions, the one by land and the other by sea. I suppose the force 
for the former should be collected in South-western Missouri, and should move 
through Western Arkansas into Northern Texas. There are many loyal citizens in 
Nortliern and "Western Texas who, it is believed, on the appearance of an adequate 
force would rally to the national standard, and then the same policy could be pur- 
suedj which has been attended with so much success in Western Virginia. A loyal 
State government (executive, legislative and judicial) could be organised. United 
States Senators could be re-elected, and very likely we could have them in their 
seats by the first of January next, and what is of much greater consequence, ^e 



The consideration of this question has been rendered urgent by tfee 
recent Proclamation of the President, announcing that unless the rebels 
submit and return to their allegiance within a prescribed period, he -wil} 
then, by another public act, designate the States and parts of States wherein 
the authority of the Government continues to be spurned, and will pro- 
claim all slaves within those limits thenceforth emancipated and free. 

Directly opposite views have been taken, both at home and abroad, of 
the efficacy and value of the proposed measure. By some it has been 
insisted that the success of our arms and the reduction of the insurrec- 
tionary States, at least pro tanio, would be an indispensable preliminary 
to emancipation, and that therefore a Proclamation of that which can only 
follow from success to be achieved by other means cannot properly be 
said to contribute in anv degree to that success. They say that the United 
States must first conquer before they can emancipate, and then emancipa- 
tion will not be necessary, for conquest, however proper it may be as ans 
act of retribution. They insist that it is an absurdity to adopt a measure 
as means to an end which can only be brought into activity after that end 
has been realized. Not a few contend that no effort on our part can pos- 
sibly subdue the rebellion, and that therefore a proclamation of liberty 
would be a mere hrutum fulmen. 

But another class (quite numerous at home,) indulge in anticipations of 
advantages to result from the proposed measure of the most extensive 
character. According to them, little else is wanting to carry universal 
dismay into the ranks of the insurrectionists, and to bring large accessions 
of strength to the side of law and order, than such a Proclamation. They 
are accustomed to apeak of the whole servile population of the rebel 
States as loyal to the Government and faithful to the Union, but, perhaps 
it would be more just to say that they instinctively embrace our cause, 
from a desire for liberty, rather ihan from any just appreciation of the 
nature of free government, or even of the advantages which they are 
likely to derive from tiie success of our arms. But, however this may be, 
it is contended that the servile class can, though unarmed, be made, in 



should by recognizing such government (as the true government of Texas) acquire 
the power of dividing that State, in conlormity with the Constitution of the United 
States and the resolutions admitting Texas into the Union. A State foiMned out of 
A'i''estern Texas would unquestionably exonerate itself from the curse of slavery, if 
not immediately, at no remote day, and thus we can carry the domain of freedom 
from Kansas to" the Gulf, and erect an effectual barrier against the further spread of 
slavery over this continent. On the other hand, if we close this war with slavery 
resting on the Rio Grande, we shall have (though the rebels now submit and re- 
turn to their allegiance) another outbreak and another civil war in less than a quar- 
ter of a century. The consequences likely to result from establishing freedom on 
the east bank of the Rio Grande are of the greatest magnitude, and will suggest 
themselves at once to every reflecting mind." 



// 



various ways, bighly useful auxiliaries, and to contribute mucli to the effi- 
ciency of our armies, whether stationary or in the field, and that if we 
choose to put arms in their hands they will, on being prop M-Jy officered 
and drilled, constitute a most valuable addition to our forces, and so change 
the preponderance in our favor as to enable us to carry furward, within a 
brief space, the contest to a triumjihant issue. 

It is, in the judgment of the undersigned, quite certain that, whether 
the one or the other of these opposite views shall prove correct, will turn 
entirely on the measures adopted to carry out the new policy, 

Hovf then should the subject be treated to render emancipation, in the 
rebel States, a measure of efficacy and power ? We have presented to us 
in these few words, a question of statesmanship of great complexity and 
great difficulty — one which may well occupy the anxious thoughts of our 
patriotic Chief Magistrate, and of his associates in the Government, and 
which, in ray judgment, calls for the exercise of all their powers. 

In the consideration of this matter it will be necessary to recur to many 
topics of inquiry, like the following : 

1. After emancipation shall be proclaimed, are slaves of every class, as 
our armies advance into the rebel territory, to be welcomed within our 
lines — men, women and children, the old and the young, the sick and 
the infirm ? 

2. Are they to take refuge under the protection of our main armies only, 
or may they resort also to columns and detachments of every class ? 

3. As any army, column, or detachment moves in advance, or retreat, 
are all adhering contrabands to move also in the same connection ? 

Who is to furnish them with transportation, and is it not certain that 
in the midst of the rush and the collision of hostile armies that their free- 
dom will be merely nominal ? — freedmen one day and slaves the next ! 

4. Our object is to overrun and subdue the insurrectionary States, to 
compel them to submit to a lawful and just gojfernment. As we advance 
into States or parts of States, that are densely populated with slaves, where 
numerically they are fully equal to, if they do not exceed, the whites, is it 
not certain that our armies will be clogged and embarrassed by the vast 
horde that will rush to their protection ? r>ut, be the number greater or 
smaller, how are they to be fed, clothed, housed and cared for ? 

5. What is to be done with the women and children, and what with 
the aged, the sick and the infirm ? 

6. No doubt a large number of the able-bodied men can be advantage- 
ously employed in connection with our armies, but recollect that the ag- 
gregate of this class is vast. In the whole of the rebel States and parts 
of States there are not less than 3,500,000 of slaves, and at least Y50,000 
able-bodied males, of whom 10 per cent, are probably all that could be 



employed as teamsters, laborers, cooks, servants, &c., in our armies. What 
is to be done with the balance ? What with vagabond negroes, the idle 
and the vicious ? 

7. So far as the Proclamation may excite fears of servile insurrection, 
and thus compel the rebels to withdraw their forces for the protection of 
their own firesides, its effects will be alike just and salutary, I am sure 
that the good heart of our President would prompt him to exert every 
power which he can command to prevent an indiscriminate massacre of 
men, women and children. The duty which will he incumbent on us, to 
maintain order among the freedraen and to cause the laws of humanity to 
be respected, will be imperative; and if we fail in the performance of that 
duty, in any marked degree, the whole civilized world will cry out against 
us. 

8, But the freed men can be armed. If so, how, and to what extent ? 
That they can be drilled and made eflective by competent officers is, in my 
judgment, certain. Some reference must be had to the prejudice of color, 
as heartless as it is cruel. Could our volunteers be brought to act with 
them, with the requisite cordiality ? If brought into the field, should any 
of them be captured and the rebels refuse to observe, in respect to them, 
the laws of war, what can we do ? Suppose they return them into sla- 
very, are we to retaliate ? This we have not done in the deplorable case 
of colored seamen, treacherously captured at an early day on the coast of 
Texas, and sold into slavery. 

,9. In some, perhaps most of the insurrectionary States, there are many 
citizens who are at heart loyal, and who would gladly return to their alle- 
giance, if they could be protected by the Government. Overrunning these 
States will amount to little or nothing, unless we can find, in the class 
adverted to, a nucleus of loyalty around whom can rally the indiflferent 
and the neutral — in short, the whole crowd who instinctively take the 
side of the stronger party, AVe have a good illustration in the State of 
Maryland, where loyalty has now a decided majority, from this cause, and 
this only. How far will arming the negroes tend to alienate the truly 
loyal in any State, and to destroy every vestige of such a nucleus ? 

10. It should be recollected that I am not obje6tii>g to the policy in- 
dicated, but only suggesting topics for consideration, so that the matter 
may be properly disposed of. If any considerable number of them are to 
be armed, may not this class of troops be advantageously employed in 
doing garrison and other stationary duty, thus liberating other and per- 
haps more efficient troops for operations in the field ? I would suggest 
also, whether it would not be sound policy to employ them in our navy, 
as marines and sailors, where (as is well known) they would encounter 
little of the prejudice of color. A distinguished officer of the navy told 



/^ 



me that it takes about three years to make good sailors of raw hands. 
Under good white officers, they could be drilled and made expert as ma- 
rines in a very short time. The officer above alluded to seemed to receive 
the suggestion which I make with favor. I am satisfied that a considera- 
ble number of colored young men and boys, perhaps several thousand ; 
could be introduced into the navy, to the advautage of the public service, 
and I think it would be good policy to encourage their introduction also 
into the merchant service. If emancipation is to be our policy, the more 
of these poor creatures we can place beyond the possibility of being re- 
turned into servitude the better. 

11. But, in this business, how, Mr. President, can you trust the officers 
of your armies ? It is understood that many of them have already set 
at defiance a peremptory act of Congress. ]Iow much respect will this 
class pay to a proclamation ? The eye of the Chief Magistrate will have 
to be quick to detect and his hand swift to punish, if conformity to the 
contemplated policy by some is even nominal. 

12. But by far the greatest difficulty which presents itself in this con- 
nection, is to be found in the fact that the moment the people of any State 
submit and return to their allegiance, their will is to determine whether 
they will or will not t derate slavery. The idea of holding any State or 
group of States in permanent subjection to the United States as territories, 
I deem wild and chimerical to the last degree. The moment they submit 
and form a loyal State government, Executive, Legislative and Judicial, 
we shall have to accord to them the prerogatives and privileges of self- 
government. Such State or States will send their senators and represent- 
atives to Congress, who will be admitted to their seats, and the irresisti- 
ble pressure of public sentiment resulting from the burdens of taxation, 
the embarrassments of trade and commerce, and universal anxiety to end 
the war, would compel any administration to withdraw our armies from 
such State or States, and to leave the people to themselves. The present 
Executive would need no such promptings, but would rejoice beyond 
measure in an opportunity to do so. What then is to become of the freed- 
man in any such case ? Would they not forthwith be legislated back 
into slavery, at least in all the cotton States, and is it not certain that 

such legislation would be upheld by the Judiciary, both State and Na- 
tional, any proclamation or act of Congress to the contrary notwithstand- 
ing ? 

13. To form a sound judgment on this subject, it is necessary to bring 
into view all the elements of the case, the physical, moral, financial and 
political elements. Of the three first I do not propose now to speak. In 
adverting to the last, reference must be had both to our foreign and do- 
mestic relations. Of the former, that is to say, whether there is any 



danger of the intervention of foreign powers, and how far the proposed 
policy is likely to obviate that danger, or to thwart a hostile purpose, oth- 
ers, who are in a situation to be much better informed than I am, must 
judge. But our domestic relations present, as I think, a very serious mat- 
ter for reflection. The ill success of our arms, combined with the pres- 
sure of taxation beginning to be felt, and an aversion to a draft so long 
impending, have enabled unscrupulous demagogues to unfurl a party ban- 
ner with success, and to carry against the friends of the Administration 
the elections in several important States. There is some prospect that 
the opposition may obtain a majority in the next House of Representa- 
tives, and what will result from this state of things it is difficult to fore- 
see. Certainly, in carrying on any war, and particularly a great civil 
war, harmony and unanimity among the ditFerent departments of the gov- 
ernment are of the first importance. I would further observe, that the 
case is greatly aggravated by the fact that the commanding generals, to 
whose incapacity our ill success is (it is believed) in a great measure due, 
are and ever have been politically a-sociated with these demagogueical 
agitators — were utterly opposed to the accession of the present Adminis- 
tration to place and power, and have not at any time sympathized with 
its views, purposes and policy. No officer is fit to lead our armies in 
such a struggle as that now pending, unless his heart is in the cause. 
While it is admitted that on such an occasion party distinctions should be 
dismissed, or laid aside, (as they have been in a remarkable degree by the 
present Executive,) it is no more than common prudence to keep a sharp 
look-out for any of the old leaven that may possibly remain to influence 
the ofi3cial course of those intrusted with commands, particularly such as 
are of great significance and importance. I trust that there is no cause to 
suspect in any case positive infidelity or downright treachery, but never- 
theless, it is not difficult to perceive that by reason of such a malign influ- 
ence some of our military leaders may have been made less enterprising, 
energetic and determined than they otherwise would have been. But the 
noble conduct of many who did not favor the election of our present Chief 
Magistrate in rushing to the rescue of their country and its government, 
amidst the most imminent perils, determined to stand by our good old 
flag and to maintain our indispensable Union, is worthy of all praise. 
There are enough of this class to be brought forward and placed in re- 
sponsible positions, to relieve the Administration from any suspicion if 
being influenced by any other than patriotic motives in dismissing (as I 
trust they will promptly hereafter,) all laggards and imbeciles to that 
obscurity to which they properly belong. 

But enough on these preliminary topics — I wish the approach more 
nearly, the high question of State policy arising from this slavery business. 



9 

In dealing with this subject, we must not forget that the season for the 
second campaign of this deplorable war is about to close, but it is devoutly 
to be hoped that some telling blow or blows may yet be inflicted on the 
rebels before winter sets in, and that our immense armies, to say nothing of 
our fleets will not remain wholly idle during the inclement season now 
approaching, as the former did during the last. In any event, I trust that 
we shall open the next campaign under favorable auspices, and that we shall 
crush out this hideous rebellion before the close of the next year. It is my 
anxious wish that great progress should be made to that end, if the same 
cannot be fully accomplished before we are involved in all the turbulence 
and confusion of another Presidential election — scenes that will be likely to 
create embarrassments to the national authorities in exercising the powers 
indispensable to a successful prosecution of the war. 

In any view of the case, we must recognize the fact that the time is short, 
and the question is, how can the war power be most discreetly and eft'ec- 
tually exercised on this subject? I hold it to be legitimate to have some 
reference to the evils of slavery in this connection, and that the purpose of 
the Executive to resort to emancipation, with a view to give success to our 
arms, may find support and aid in the magnitude of those evils. 

I must confess that I am among the number of those who have not, for a 
moment, entertained the idea that general emancipation could by any possi- 
bility be effected as the direct result of the war. If originally I had felt a 
doubt on that subject, I should be obliged to dismiss it now, when we are 
so near the middle of the current Presidential terra, and when so little has 
been done hitherto in that behalf. I have believed, as I do still, that 
the rebellion would ultimately undermine and overthrow slavery, or, at 
least, that it has a strong tendency to do so, but I fear we shall be compelled 
to pass through a succession of civil wars and deplorable scenes of blood- 
shed and violence before any such result can be attained. No doubt the 
ajgis of the constitution was the safeguard of all the leading interests and 
institutions of the country, (including slavery,) but that being spurned, and 
war, violence and lawlessness inaugurated, what other fate than that ot 
annihilation can possibly await an institution so repugnant to every idea of 
liberty and free government. 

But can we not save our country from these terrific evils. Can we not 
avail ourselves of the existing opportunity (however unhappily presented,) 
to introduce and carry out a policy which will contribute effectively to the 
suppression of the rebellion, and fit the same time lay a foundation for the 
ultimate extinction by peaceable means of slavery within our limits? 

I have been for a long time convinced that the true way to undermine 
and destroy slavery in this country is to bring it under the operation and 
influence of the great fundamental principles of political economy ; and I 



10 

take consolation in believing that the war affords an opportunity to test the 
correctness of the opinion. 

It must be obvious to any one who has paid attention to the subject, 
that the hold of this institution on public sentiment and feeling at the 
South has been gradually gaining tenacity and strength during the last 
quarter of a century, and that at the inception of the rebellion it had in 
most of the slaveholding States become irresistible. This has resulted, as is 
believed, entirely from the great profitableness of this species of labor during 
the period here adverted to, which has rested for its basis on the fact that 
the demand for the products of slave labor, particularly for cotton, has all 
the while outrun the supplj . It is true that production has been greatly 
augmented with the breadth of land cultivated and the number of slaves 
employed, but the demand has been all the while increasing in a greater 
ratio. Hence cotton producing has been exceedingly profitable, and this 
has had the effect to enhance the value of slaves by two or three prices, and 
the further effect to encourage and sustain the detestable business of slave- 
breeding in Virginia, and perhaps some of the other border States, to supply 
the market for human chattels at the South. As long as the owners or 
occupants of the worn-out estates in Virginia, who at the end of every year 
find a greater or smaller adverse balance in their accounts, can sponge out 
that balance by selling off from one to a half dozen of these wretched 
beings to heartless slave-dealers, just so long will Virginia under their 
auspices and influence remain (contrary to the warnings of Jefferson, and 
the inculcations of most if not all of her great statesmen,) harnessed to the 
juggernaut of slavery. Now if we can only inaugurate a policy which 
will cut down the price of cotton, down also will go the price or value of 
negroes, and if we can carry the process far enough, down first will slavery 
go in the border States ! and finally in all the States. Yes, shackles will be 
stricken off every where, and every human being within our limits will be 
free ! 

To accomplish a result of so much importance let us so wield the war 
power in order to put down this rebellion as to introduce the production of 
cotton by free labor, and that, too, on a large scale. Oar object should be 
not merely to obtain a temporary ascendency or to assert the authority of 
the government for the time being, but to lay a foundation for the perma- 
nent peace of the country, and I can conceive of no measure that can more 
effectually accomplish that end than the one suggested. 

Here I would observe that the whole cotton crop of the world has of late, 
as is understood, amounted annually to about six millions of bales, of which 
the United States has produced about four miUions, or two-thirds in quan- 
tity, and much more than two-thirds of the aggregate value. This has been 
owing, in part, to the more fiivorable character of our soil and climate, and 



11 

in part to superior machinery used, and like skill and diligence exercised in 
preparing it for market. I am quite confident that an amount equal to the 
whole crop produced in the United States can be raised by free labor only 
in the great State of Texas, and that, too, in comparatively a short space of 
time. At the outbreak of the rebellion free labor was, to some extent, 
engaged in raising cotton in Texas — particularly in Western Texas, under 
Teutonic auspices ; and I am credibly informed that cotton thus produced, 
owing to superior care in picking and preparing it for market, brought one 
cent per pound more than slave-produced cotton; and I am also informed 
by a friend on whom I can rely, that the late Senator Thomas J. Ru-,k told 
him shortly before his death, (which I have ever deeply lamented,) that he 
had rather have at any time one German than three slaves to pick cotton. 
Let any vast expanse of country (such as I propose to indicate hereafter,) be 
divided off into small estates of eighty or at most one hundred and sixty 
acres (of which there would ultimately be a vast number,) each occupied 
and cultivated by its proprietor with his wife and children, each raising 
his own beef, pork, mutton, wheat, corn and other necessaries, and each also 
producing a few bales of cotton wherewith to obtain a few hundred dollais 
of cash to foot a store bill, extinguish an incumbrance, buy another farm for 
a son, or to fit out a daughter, and you will not only have a greater aggre- 
gate of cotton than slave labor would produce from the same country, but 
a much better article. Besides, slavery is ever prodigal of laud, and speedily 
exhausts it — but freedom will keep it in a good healthy state, or is likely to 
do so. Slavery is like the daughters of the horse-leech, it cries "give! 
give!" — it all the while wants more land, but freedom is content with what 
it occupies, and has reason to be content. It seems to me entirely practi- 
cable in carrying on this war, to inaugurate legitimately a competition 
between free and slave labor, and that in such a contest the former will at 
an early period gain a decided advantage over the latter, resulting in the 
richest benefits and blessings to the whole country. In making this remark 
I assume that universal emancipation is at present completely beyond our 
reach, and that though greatly crippled by the war, slavery is likely to 
remain, afflicting a large breadth of country for a considerable period after 
we have brought the struggle to a successful issue. Bat wherever it may 
remain, I propose to inaugurate the policy of breaking it down by the com- 
petition of free labor. Nothing can be more effectual to that end, and at 
the same time more beneficent, than the operation of those economic prin- 
ciples to which T have already adverted. They are as follows : 

1. The price of any article, particularly of the great staples, depends on 
the relation which the supply bears to the demand— if the "demand exceeds 
the supply then the price is high — if below the supply, then low, and 



12 

whether the difference in either case is great, moderate or small, depends 
entirely on the excess or deficiency. 

2. A slight excess of supply over demand may, and usually does, produce 
a reduction in the aggregate value of any given crop which exceeds the 
value of such excess many hundred, if not many thousand, fold, so that it 
would be much more for the interest of producers to burn up or otherwise 
destroy such excess rather than to throw it on the market, and they would 
certainly do so if there were any way of distributing the loss among them- 
selves. 

3. When an excess of supply is once established as the ordinary state of 
the case, the effect will be to drive out of the business all those who produce 
(taking everything into consideration,) the article at the greatest cost, and 
ultimately the opposite class, viz. : those who produce the best article at the 
cheapest rate ; those who have the most economical system of labor and 
method of production, will at last engross the whole supply. 

I submit that the effect and operation of these principles, if we can once 
inaugurate and bring into activity the competition here proposed, cannot 
fail to be all that good men can desire. They will operate steadily, silently, 
gently and kindly — in short " like rain on the mown grass," and ere long 
the people of the South, not to say our brethren ! (I wish I could,) will have 
their eyes opened to the truth, and will be sure to abandon a system 
fraught with so many evils. We may have throughout the whole slave- 
holding region a colored peasantry, not necessarily the equals of white men, 
but free, gradually to become enlightened, and required (by stringent legis- 
tion if necessary,) to lead lives of sobriety, industry and morality — an obli- 
gation which is incumbent on every man, be he white or black. 

This is certainly an exhilarating contemplation. I do not say it can be 
realized, but I conceive that it should be attempted, and then on using our 
best endeavors, all we can do is to leave the result to the smiles of a benig- 
nant Providence. Certainly the case is beset with difficulties on every side. 
No scheme can be proposed to which objections may not be urged. In the 
absence of a better and with great deference I submit the following : 

Let the whole country below Missouri and west of the Mississip[)i, that is 
to say, Arkansas, Western Louisiana and Texas be set apart as the theatre 
for this great experiment. The proclamation which is to mark the advent 
of the approaching year, will of course be general, and can draw no distinc- 
tion between the right and the left bank of the Mississippi. To the end 
here proposed, with a view to an effective movement, I would suggest the 
following details : 

1. Capture Vicksburg, (no doubt now contemplated and perhaps immin- 
ent,) and open the Mississippi from Cairo to its mouth. Employ an ample 



13 

naval police to insure the safety of navigation and to prevent the possibility 
of any considerable communication by rebels between the two sides of 
the river. This will cut off effectually the supplies hitherto received by the 
rebel armies in Virginia and elsewhere from the region here indicated, par- 
ticularly Texas. 

2. Provide a most ample force for overrunning, subduing and holding the 
whole country. The success of General Curtiss, in marching comparatively 
a small army from the Northwest corner of Arkansas to Helena, on the 
Mississippi, without any serious opposition other than that which he encoun- 
tered (with brilliant success,) at Pea Ridge, is proof conclusive that we can 
easily pour into the country a force that would be irresistible. 

3. Let the people of these States be thoroughly disarmed, and perhaps 
the more incorrigible of the traitors handed over to the east side of the Mis- 
sissippi. 

4. Actual emancipation is one thing — emancipation proclaimed is 
another. West of the Mississippi, let us have the former. Let every slave be 
liberated as soon as possible, with compensation for loyal masters if any there 
are. 

5. Encourage immediate and extensive immigration into this region. Let 
the emigrants take the lands belonging to the United States and also those 
of traitors, without money and without price. The whole state of society 
should be renovated, and a population raised up who believe that every 
man should earn his bread by the sweat of his own brow, and not subsist on 
exudations from the brow of a despised negro ! 

6. I will not undertake to say whether the experiment should be here 
tried of arming the negroes. I think it would be quite appropriate to 
employ them to shoot down guerrillas, marauders and robbers of every class. 
It strikes me that it would be much safer to employ them as such on the 
west side of the Mississippi rather than the east side. 

v. Provost Marshals should be appointed for districts of suitable size, and 
the disloyal should be in each held to a responsibility for all the lawless- 
ness, and also for the relief of the destitute therein. 

8. Each State should be divided into two or more judicial districts, and 
United States judges appointed, to the end that, as the country is reduced 
and made to submit to authority, there may be a prompt administration of 
justice. 

9. No doubt the freedmen not employed in the army should be required 
to earn a support for themselves and their families. This obligation is 
imperative, and it is no violation of the principles of true liberty to 
enforce it. How can this be better done than by binding them out to 
loyal citizens as apprentices for a short term at moderate wages ? A system 



14 

of guardianship could be organized to extend to them all requisite protec- 
tion. 

10, It is worthy of serious consideration whether the freedraen of the 
States this side of the Mississippi should not, just as soon as employment 
can be found for them, be transferred to the west side of that river. Can 
any one in his senses believe that this class, for example those on the islands 
in the vicinage of Port Royal, will remain free for an hour on the assump- 
tion by South Carolina of the powers of self-government after returning to 
her allegiance ? If, huvvever, there is any State this side of the Mississippi 
which I would denude of it whole slave population it is certainly the one 
here named. It must be admitted that the justice of such a measure would 
be alike appropriate and retributive. 

Such are the outlines of a plan which would, if carried out, inaugurate a 
competition between free and slave labor on a most extensive scale to pro- 
duce results in every sense conservative and beneficent. The competition 
misht not merely extend to cotton, but to all the serai-tropical products of 
that reo"ion. I am sensible that in making these suggestions I run athwart 
of two ideas which the devotees of slavery have been indefatigable in dis- 
geminating every vi'here. First, That no effective labor can be obtained 
from the colored race except in bondage, and second, that white labor 
cannot be employed in tropical or semi-tropical regions with much, if any, 
success. The unsoundness of this suggestion is demonstrated by rail-road 
buildino- on the island of Cuba, where I am informed they have no less than 
eight hundred miles of rail-roads all constructed by white labor or mainly 
so. But the idea is not to carry sugar-making and cotton raising exclu- 
sively or even principally by white labor, but by compensated colored labor, 
when the laws of beneficence and kindness shall take the ph\ce of the slave- 
driver's lash ; and when the stimulus of wages, and the promptings of 
domestic ties, of husband and wife, and parent and child, will ordinarily 
be ft sufficient incentive to efibrt. Should there be exceptional cases (as 
there are vast multitudes in the white race,) I am for applying to them the 
constraints of just and appropriate legislation. 

I do not say that the scheme here presented should be adopted either in 
general or in detail ; but I do saj that some policy well considered, digested, 
arranged and vigorously executed is indispensable — without it, a proclama- 
tion will I fear amount to little or nothing. It is of great importance that 
we should not in this connection undertake too much, I fear more from 
this cause than from almost any other. Therefore, I propose to surround 
slavery with freedom. I am convinced that that is practicable — I do not 
believe that the universal liberation of all slaves, both east and west of the 
Mississippi is so now, or will be soon. But if we can not wholly extirpate 
slavery we can throw it wholly into the embrace of freedom, and then it 



15 

will be certain to be smothered sooner or later. Cotton, to say nothing of 
sugar produced by free labor, white and black, will do the work. Besides 
by this or some other kindred measure, we shall put an effectual extin- 
guisher on an idea which has had more to do in producing this rebellion 
than almost any thing else, to wit., that slavery can be made to sweep 
entirely around the Gulf of Mexico, acquire the islands which lie in front 
of that Gulf, and thus establish and build up a vast empire with human 
bondage for its basis. 

It is with no satisfaction that I discuss a subject such as this. It is 
contrary to all ray habits of thought, and course of life. During the very 
considerable period I occupied a seat in one or the other of the two houses 
of Congress I was ever sih-nt on sectional questions, particularly on that 
of slavery, contenting myself with a vote in conformity with my sense of 
right and duty. Reared in the school of Henry Clay, I endeavored to 
follow in his footsteps, though at an immeasurable distance, and if there is 
in these suggestions any seeming departure from his precepts or example, 
I can find an apology in the tact that we are involved in a great and diffi- 
cult emergency, by this most atrocious rebellion, and that we are obliged 
to grope our way in the dark, unguided by the counsels of that sagacious 
and accomplished statesman. I am sure that I desire nothing but the best 
interest and true welfare of our country and of every part of it. 

The subject, Mr. President, is in all its bearings and aspects with you. 
On you and your associates in the government must rest the responsibility. 
You are sworn to iireserve the Constitution of the United States, while 
other functionaries are only sworn to support it, and it is idle to think of 
preserving the Constitution while the Union goes by the board. 

I will conclude by saying, that there is, as I verily believe, now pre- 
sented to you an opportunity which few public men have ever had. You 
can by prudent counsels and energetic action so treat this subject as to 
put an end to further agitation, whether pro-slavery or anti-slavery, and 
thus lay a sure foundation for national quietude and peace. Then we shall 
have a Union of inappreciable value. You will have made a deep mark 
on your country's history, and associated your name with the benefactors 
of mankind. 

New York, December 24tk, 1862 



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